nolly: (Default)
[personal profile] nolly
Highlights of the day, cause I'm feeling babbly.

Got up, went to yoga, had my usual scone and coffee, thenscored at the used book store. 14 books and a box of notecards for < $20.

Headed north, met [livejournal.com profile] samuraimeg, [livejournal.com profile] filmbuff, and [livejournal.com profile] buddykat to head for the Fair. After a false start (my fault; left my ticket back in my vehicle, and we were carpooling), all was well; we parked in a satellite lot and took the shuttle.

First stop was the non-barned animals, where there's usually several llamas, alpacas, and camels. This year, alas, the exotics were nowhere to be found. We did, however, see ducks, and later found a llama in the petting zoo. Well, a small one, or perhaps some other, smaller, llama like creature. There were also llama finger puppets at one of the vendors near the gate.

After that, food was acquired, then on to the exhibits. My Amish dolls (foreground) won 1st place and Best in Division (!) and my necklace (center) took second. (For [livejournal.com profile] elisem fans, the necklace on the left is a Bold Rabbit; currently in need of a bit of repair -- broken crimp.) I was surprised, especially that the Amish did so well.

Lots of other lovely work on display, and some interesting and odd collections. The "My Little Phony" collection (knockoff My Little Ponies) had the best explanatory text. Oddest I saw this year was the dryer lint collection, but I didn't check to see if Toilet Paper from Around the World was back.

Several local crafting groups have tables in this area; the polymer clay group was giving away beads, which was fun. Picked up info on a crochet/knit for preemies group.

After we finished with Home and Hobby, it was on to Designs in Wood, which was impressive as always -- so many incredible pieces! I love the inlay work, but really, it's all just amazing. Saw some lovely jewelry in the Gems and Minerals exhibits, but none of the beadsellers had anything compelling; some nice stones, but overpriced.

Next it was over to the vendor halls. First, I acquired reusable temporary tattoos. (It's like a stamp, basically; I considered it last year, but wasn't wild about the designs; either the selection expanded or my tastes have changed this year.) Next, I finally located the metal things booth -- all the tweezers, scissors, pliers, hemostats, files, etc. you ever wanted and more. Picked up a few things I'd been looking for there, then off to the other halls.

Next stop was Stacey's crack dealer, the oyster lottery (not the real name). You pick the oyster ($10), they crack it, you get the pearl(s). Mine had a large (6.75mm) gold pearl; some people were lucky and got twins. (I don't know how accurate the values they give you are, but they say mine's worth $49, IIRC.)

More browsing, mixed admiration (gorgeous amber jewelry and charoite jewelry at the Russian import booth) and fear (World of Oilcloth! For all your oilcloth needs! Aprons! Totes!)

Somewhere in here, we decided to skip the concert; we weren't done with the rest of the fair yet. Looked at the garden exhibits, which were lovely, and amusing, due to their movie themes. Drooled over the spas; if only any of us had the space and money...

Wandered the midway, but none of the rides were terribly compelling, then over to the infield, where we found world reptiles (TWO albino Burmese pythons! All sorts of lizards and snakes and turtles!), the aforementioned petting zoo, kiddie rides, and a candy store! I wasn't going to get anything...really. And I didn't get much, but when I saw Squirrel Nut Zippers...Well, I had to. They had all sorts of things you don't see much, like candy and gum cigarettes, and Major League Chew chewing gum (or whatever that gum in a chewing tobacco style pouch was called). I picked up some saltwater taffy, chewy spree, giant smarties, the aforementioned SNZs, peanut butter logs, and a Big Hunk. Oh, and a couple of wax bottle/tubes. I don't think I got more than three pieces of anything, though; not that much candy.

We wandered back the the main part of the fair, and were starting to head toward the gate, when I noticed the main theme exhibit, which we hadn't looked at yet. The first thing inside is a list of movies filmed in San Diego. The first was in 1898! The early 1900s were quite prolific, but seemingly only in odd-numbered years. Dunno what's up with that. Further on, we found Felix the Cat cartoons playing, and watched a couple. Very funny!

When we came to the gift shop at the end of the exhibit, we discovered that most of the Fair memorabilia was on sale. Meg and I found shirts we liked, mine purple, hers pink. We're the stars!

From there, we meandered back to the gate, onto the shuttle, and back to our cars. All in all, a good time was had by all. And no deep-fried Snickers were harmed in the making of this post. Nor Twinkes.

ETA: Oh yeah, I got a new pouch for my cell phone, too! No more flappy phone!

Date: 2005-07-03 07:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com
Congratulations on your dolls and necklace winning!

Date: 2005-07-03 10:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com
Thanks!

Date: 2005-07-03 03:01 pm (UTC)
ext_267866: (Default)
From: [identity profile] buddykat.livejournal.com
I picked up some saltwater taffy, chewy spree, giant smarties, the aforementioned SNZs, peanut butter logs, and a Bug Hunk.

So where did you find that Bug Hunk? I only got a Big Hunk in my candy hunt!

Date: 2005-07-03 10:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com
:P
Fixed it

Date: 2005-07-03 03:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thespatula.livejournal.com
Hehehee Naughty vendors! Most Gum Cigarettes are illegal to sell in California :} Because they encourage kids to smoke and all that :] I forget the exact rules, but i know the ones with poweder that looks like smoke are no-no's

Date: 2005-07-03 10:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com
Dunno, didn't buy any; don't chew gum much, and diudn't like the candy ones as a kid.

Date: 2005-07-03 03:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com
Congratulations! The fair here in Santa Cruz isn't until September (hopefully this will be one of the years I manage to get some applications in on time), but the Marin County Fair is another fourth-of-July-with-fireworks one. Though looking at the San Diego fair web site -- that's incredible that it goes on for weeks instead of days!

Date: 2005-07-03 10:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com
It's a pretty big deal around here; the traffic is insane.

Date: 2005-07-03 03:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] colleency.livejournal.com
Congratulations on your ribbons.

And thank you for the write-up. It will sustain me if this is a non-fair year for us.

Date: 2005-07-03 10:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com
One reason I like entering is because it's one of the cheapest ways to get a fair ticket. :)

Date: 2005-07-03 09:37 pm (UTC)
ext_481: origami crane (Default)
From: [identity profile] pir-anha.livejournal.com
oh, that sounds like so much fun! congrats on your ribbons! the fairs here aren't until fall; i'm really looking forward to it since i've had to miss the last couple of years.

Date: 2005-07-03 10:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com
Thanks! Have fun!

Date: 2005-07-04 04:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] qwynwyn.livejournal.com
congratulations on your wins! your account of the fair made it sound kind of fun. i haven't been to one yet since i've moved out here. maybe one day.

Date: 2005-07-04 05:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com
Thanks! It is fun, and there's some really amazing work ing the exhibits area. Today is the last day for this year, but I totally recommend it.

Date: 2005-07-04 08:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] qwynwyn.livejournal.com
ah shoot, there's always next year and the year after. liked the mention of SNZ the candy - reminded me of SNZ the band.

Date: 2005-07-05 05:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] colleency.livejournal.com
The LA County fair doesn't give free tickets if you enter, even if you win. And they've made the entry times virtually impossible for anyone who works. And the Orange County fair, moments from where I work, won't let me enter anything, because I'm not a resident of OC. :{

Date: 2005-07-05 10:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shinobimaasch.livejournal.com
Congratulations on taking first place with the Amish? dolls, and second in the neclace! That is really quite an accomplishment! ^_^
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